picturebook

i, ii, iii, iv, v, vi.

v.
Their meal now finished, and one glass of wine deep, she knew that she would spend the rest of her life staring into his eyes. Another moment of silence came, but this one was filled with an expectation. She waited in the safety of his presence, until he finally said what she was hoping to hear. "I'd like to see you again." She answered him with a smile, and this time didn't turn away.

She knew there was something about this that wouldn't last, so it was decided that she would capture the moment. When he reached across the table to touch her hand, her hands were already busy pulling the camera from her purse. It wasn't until she was staring through the camera's lens that she realized what it meant. This lens had always been her shield, but now she knew it as her prison... a closed door that she didn't have the courage to be free of. As the smile faded from her face, that look of warm concern returned to his. He again stared into her, reaching past the lens. Her finger fell... the deed was done.

After she sadly put the camera back into her purse, she had trouble engaging his eyes; there would be time enough for that later. Although his hand was still extended, he would quickly learn to take it back. She didn't know if he understood. She wasn't hearing his words or feeling his touch... his expression was now locked into place, and he'd only ever be a name, a face, and a memory.